College football: Play it forward

1. UCLA continues its quest to find the right game time to fit its circadian rhythms. The Bruins struggled in a 9 a.m. (PDT) kickoff against Virginia and didn’t look much better in the 7 p.m. slot against Memphis. The Texas game is at 5 p.m.

2. No. 25 Brigham Young (2-0), which hosts Houston on Thursday, could end up being the best team outside the “Power Five” structure. The problem is that the Cougars are independent in football and have no tie-ins to the College Football Playoff other than trying to reach the top four. Good luck with that.

3. What happened to USC’s supposedly being in UCLA’s shadow this year? The Trojans have dominated the early news-making while UCLA has struggled to defeat two inferior opponents. Next stop for USC’s traveling circus: Beantown.

4. A show of hands for those who marked Penn State (2-0) at Rutgers (2-0) as an early key game in the Big Ten. The winner of Saturday’s game in Piscataway takes early control of the Big Ten East. Other teams in the division: Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State.

5. There’s a rumor going around that Tennessee football might be decent again. It seems absurd to make that kind of snap judgment after wins over Utah State and Arkansas State, but we should find out this week when the Volunteers pay a visit to Oklahoma.

—Chris Dufresne